Just Another Day
by Orange Lights
Summary: Everyday life drabbles and short stories about the Azumanga Daioh characters.
1. Exercising Yomi

Exercising Yomi 

Yomi was probably one of the only ones who actually liked pre-game exercises in Phys. Ed.

Even if the only reason she liked it was because she was good at it. And because she could imagine all the calories she was burning off while she did it.

The others didn't share this love of exercises. Osaka was about as flexible as a brick, and even with Chiyo's futile attempts to help, would never be able to stretch to touch her _knees _let alone her feet. Kagura and Sakaki understood that they were necessary so did them with the viewpoint that it was just something that had to be done, and Tomo was just too impatient to care. Yomi had been careful to avoid Tomo, she was even more energetic that normal in Phys. Ed. and turned around so she had her back facing her, where she stood aimlessly a few metres away, and bent over so she could reach her shoes, touching the tips with her fingers.

There was a peaceful silence for a moment, and then...

"One, two, HUP!" Tomo shouted, and Yomi nearly staggered as the girl ran towards her, hands pressed down suddenly as Tomo jumped on her back.

"W-what are you doing?!" Yomi exclaimed, standing up abruptly. Tomo nearly fell off, quickly linking her legs under her armpits and choking her by wrapping her arms around her neck.

"Gimmie a piggyback, Yomi!" Tomo said cheerfully, her head propped on top of hers. Yomi pulled her arms off from her neck so she could _breathe _and Tomo readjusted herself so she didn't fall off, this time loosely placing her arms around her neck for reassurance.

"You are meant to ask first! And no!" Yomi retorted, trying to push her off.

"See, I knew you would say that, so I just did it anyway." Tomo replied, "Betcha can't get me off!"

"Get OFF."

"Hahahaha!" Tomo, oblivious to Yomi's rage, continued to laugh. Yomi attempted to lever the aggravating lump off her shoulders but found out that she Would. Not. Budge.

"Get off you moron!"

"Hahahaha!"

Yomi saw red. Suddenly snapping to berserk-Yomi mode, she rampaged around the tennis court as fast as she could, swerving in a random fashion to try and make the idiot fall off, to the alarm of nearby students. She didn't, instead she whooped wildly, calling out made up phrases that sounded a bit like Spanish.

"Whoa, I always wanted to know what it was like to do a rodeo!" Tomo grinned, while Yomi huffed and puffed, looking exhausted.

"Y-you... idiot!" Yomi said. Tomo clambered off, walking around in circles from the dizziness.

"Hahaha..." Tomo said, sounding a bit tired out herself, "But at least you've exercised now! Didn't you feel those calories from lunch _burn_?"

Yomi replied by smacking her upside the head in a deadly uppercut. Tomo lay on the floor, looking like she had been knocked out, _hopefully she is – at least I can get some peace and quiet _and Yomi bent over as she tried to recover her energy.

_Although, I do feel a lot lighter now... _

Yomi looked up in a sudden click of satisfaction. She was on those scales as soon as she got home.


	2. Oh, To be a Cloud

Oh, To be a Cloud

The sun was shining and with fluffy splodges of white in the sky, it felt like the sky itself was celebrating that it was indeed lunch time. Occasionally, the group would decide to make the most of this summery weather and sit on top of the roof. Today was one of those days.

Osaka was lying down on the roof looking up at the sky with a awe that only Osaka would understand. Yomi and Tomo were the only ones with her, Sakaki was god knows where - she had a tendency to disappear suddenly, (Osaka was convinced that she was some kind of secret agent studying them all for a potential scientific experiment), and Kagura was trying to get some food in the school canteen with Chiyo-chan, who felt that she couldn't leave Kagura to do it alone, even though Kagura didn't mind.

Osaka dreamily watched the clouds as they meandered their way across the sky. The clouds looked white and puffy and so relaxed up in that sky...

"...I wish I was a cloud." She stated in a far away voice. Yomi and Tomo looked over in thought.

"Yeah..." Yomi said, surprisingly so as she never agreed with anything the idiots said, "To be so light and carefree - "

Tomo snickered, "Yomi, you weigh too much to be a cloud." Yomi yelled at her to shut up and karate chopped her on the head.

While they bickered, Osaka pondered this. How did clouds stay up?

_Maybe they are tied up with pieces of string. _She imagined when she had been in the bread eating contest, and substituted the bread with a cloud. _What do clouds taste like? Would you drink a cloud or would you eat a cloud? Are clouds too light to carry people? _

She gazed up at the clouds and imagined a population of little cloud people living on the white surface. _Oh, no that can't be right. _Osaka blinked. The clouds sometimes came apart and shrunk into smaller clouds. If that happened, what would happen to the cloud people? _They would fall! _Osaka freaked out. No, no, there couldn't be cloud people.

_Or _the cloud people _were _the clouds. It was a trick! Osaka nodded in understanding. The clouds were _alive. _

"But wouldn't it hurt?" Osaka said as she watched a particular cloud move in the sky. Tomo and Yomi stopped what they were doing, Tomo holding Yomi's glasses in her hand and Yomi trying to grab it. Quickly sensing she wasn't paying attention, Yomi snatched the glasses out of her hand and perched them on her nose.

"Would what hurt?" Yomi asked, pushing her glasses so they were on properly, then realising that she probably shouldn't have said anything.

Osaka sat up, looking over at both Yomi and Tomo with a scared face. She held up both her hands horizontally, level with her chest, thumbs closest to her body.

"This." She said seriously, moving both hands slowly together, intertwining her fingers, "Boom."

"Boom?" Tomo echoed.

"The clouds!" Osaka said, "Wouldn't it hurt if you crashed into another cloud?"

She looked back up at the sky, Tomo and Yomi doing the same, as they watched one of the smaller clouds merge into a larger one. Yomi looked back at Osaka with a _'what are you on about' _look on her face.

"I would be like, get out of my sky, buster!" Osaka said, attempting to sound like one of those detectives she saw on TV.

"Yeah!" Tomo said, "Like air traffic!"

"More like an cloud accident." Osaka said darkly, "Like a car accident but a hundred times worse."

Tomo nodded a few times, "Mm. Mm. Yeah, exactly!"

Yomi realised that her level of intellect meant that she would not understand a word the two were saying, and stood up, trying not to listen. She wanted to keep her brain cells.

"But..." Osaka paused, "Where do rain clouds come from? Are they the sad clouds – and the thunder clouds are the angry ones?"

"Oh!"

"No." Yomi said, unable to hold in her correcting urges, "Rain comes from the evaporation of oceans and lakes - "

"You're saying the rain clouds come from the ocean?" Osaka said sternly, "How did they sink down so low? Is that where they go to drink?"

"N-no..."

"Don't listen to her, Osaka!" Tomo laughed, "Rain comes from the ocean? What an idiot."

"You're the idiot!"

Osaka drifted off in the thought of clouds sinking to have a drink from the ocean, while Tomo and Yomi fought again.

_Do they prefer salty water, or do they prefer spring water? Do they absorb the water like a sponge and then squeeze it out when they rain on people? I wonder what it would be like to be a cloud... _


	3. Marriage

Marriage

"If you could adopt any one of the kids, who would you pick?"

There was no hesitation in Minamo's answer, "Chiyo-chan."

"Eh?" Yukari exclaimed. The two were having after work drinks that no doubt Minamo was paying for, and Yukari had drunk only a couple of glasses at the moment. Minamo had around the same, and so the normal conversation – who was Minamo kidding, there _were _no normal conversations with Yukari – had drifted off to a random question and answer type of conversation.

"Chiyo-chan?" Yukari repeated, "But she isn't even in your homeroom class!"

"You never said it had to be a homeroom student!" Minamo argued. Yukari smirked and waggled her finger, in an slightly drunk manner.

"That's pretty low of you, Nyamo." Yukari replied, "Putting _my_ homeroom student above your own. It's like you don't like any of your students!"

"Why are you so proud that she's in your homeroom?" Minamo said, "She's one of my Phys. Ed. students too!"

"Pah. That doesn't count for anything."

"It does!"

They both glared at each other for a bit, both not having enough energy to argue but not wanting to give in either. Instead of verbal attack, they had an unspoken starting competition. Yukari squinted her eyes as she tried not to blink and Minamo realised that she was against a true child and slumped in an uncaring defeat, her head buried in her arms.

"I asked her to marry me once." Minamo admitted, her voice muffled in the fabric of her shirt.

"Eh?" Yukari exclaimed. Minamo looked up, her hair looking dishevelled as she held up her chin with one hand. "What did she say?"

"She didn't say anything." Minamo said sincerely, remembering the confused expression on the young girl's face, "I think she thought I was joking."

_She could cook for me everyday, and look after me, and make me lunch, and cook for me... _Hell, if she could, she would swap Yukari for Chiyo-chan any day. _Chiyo-chan would never try and sponge money off me for drinks. Or for food. Or come over my flat just to sleep... _

Minamo glared at Yukari in this revelation on how irritating she was. Yukari didn't notice and drunk more sake.

"Huh." She said, holding the bottle in her hand, "You must be desperate Nyamo, if you asked _Chiyo-chan_ to marry you."

Minamo swiped at her hand and took the sake from out of her grasp.

"Who would you adopt then?" She retorted, taking a swig from the bottle.

Yukari glared at Minamo in this revelation on how quick her reflexes were. Minamo didn't notice and drunk more sake.

"You're asking me to pick a favourite?" Yukari said in a tone of teacher superiority, "How unprofessional of you, Nyamo. I could never pick one student from all the unique specimens I have in my homeroom!"

_You make them sound like frogs in a lab experiment... _


	4. Foreigners

Foreigners

The sound of a basketball bouncing on the hard concrete was what Minamo was used to. All the students were lined up in single file and as she walked along, she bounce passed a basketball to every second person, the obedient ones holding it still in their hands, the lesser ones bouncing it from the palm of their hand and catching it it. The ones who didn't get the ball tried to persuade their partner to let them have a go at holding it, apart from the ones who didn't like sport or just didn't care.

Minamo had one basketball left and was just about to bounce it to the last person in the line until she realised it was Yukari.

"What are you doing here?" Minamo snapped, not even bothering to address her by her name, "Don't you have a lesson to teach?"

"Study hall." Yukari said as an explanation and held out her hands, "So, gimmie the ball. We can be partners!"

"No. Stop coming to my lessons, Yukari." Minamo said wearily, another thing that she had got used to was Yukari turning up _for no reason_, "It makes me look bad in front of the students."

"You never look bad in front of the students." Yukari said, and Minamo thought she detected a hint of irritation in her voice, "Besides, I need to know something."

To her horror, Minamo watched as Yukari walked out of the line to stand beside her, looking at all the students who were watching her with an odd expression. Tomo was grinning like she knew something good was going to happen, while most were just concerned for Minamo's mental health.

"Now, everyone listen up!" Yukari stated in a louder than normal voice, "This is important!"

The less obedient students stopped bouncing the basketball, Tomo being the last with one rebellious bounce before she clutched it to her stomach.

Suddenly Yukari was standing behind her, peering over at the students from behind Minamo's right shoulder.

"Now. This is normal Nyamo." Yukari said. Minamo slightly turned her head in case she was going to do something horrible, like put a bug down her top, or show some kind of incriminating evidence that would no doubt embarrass her in front of the students. Surprisingly, she had nothing in her hands, but this just made her feel even more uneasy. _What is she - ?_

"If we just do this..." Yukari pulled back the bangs that fell down to her shoulders, wrapping it behind her back so from the front it was out of sight, "Nyamo looks like a man, right?"

"WHAT?!" Minamo exploded, whipping around, blushing from embarrassment and anger, "What are you saying?!"

"Why are you so upset?" Yukari closed her eyes and sighed, "It's because most of your hair is so short apart from these two strands here. Oh, don't take offence Nyamo, you look like a very _attractive _man if you had your hair cut like that - "

Minamo hadn't been listening to what she was saying and threw the basketball at her head.

"Get out of my lesson!"

"So, you see it as well, right?" Yukari directed at the students. The students were gazing at her in shock, not saying a word. Tomo piqued up that she didn't think Minamo looked like a man and Yomi hit her and told her to stop talking. Yukari ignored this and laughed.

"I think we all know who is the more attractive out of the both of us, Nyamo – especially after last night at the bar - "

"Students!" Minamo said suddenly, "Overhead pass to me now!"

Kagura immediately threw the ball in her direction, which she caught, and threw at Yukari. Yukari dodged, but Minamo called out for more basketballs and threw them at her in an unforgiving attack of orange spheres. Tomo eagerly passed her ball to Minamo and Yomi wondered to herself if it was alright for students to be encouraged like this.

"That didn't count!" Minamo yelled as Yukari gave in and ran away, "He was probably asking for directions!"

* * *

**A/N:** Lol, is anyone reading this? XD Ah well, nvm.


	5. Dieting Yomi

Dieting Yomi 

Yomi was on a diet. Actually, there probably _wasn't _a time where Yomi was not dieting, apart from those moments of stress where her desire to eat good food peaked, and she gave in and gorged herself on whatever was available and unhealthy.

Her control had been steady so far. But it was wavering now, wavering as Tomo was teasing her with a slice of yakiniku, the floppy sizzling grilled meat in easy chopstick-grabbing distance...

...until Tomo chomped it down in one go, with a satisfied _'Om!' _sound. Yomi turned back to her bowl of plain rice, miserably picking up a few grains with her chopsticks.

She couldn't remember who's decision it was to go out for a barbecue, but it certainly wasn't hers. It was probably Tomo's, just to annoy her, she knew that she had just started dieting again and so there was no way she was going to drop that just because they were eating out. Chiyo-chan and Sakaki couldn't come, Chiyo-chan was busy at home with her homework, and Sakaki mumbled something about cats. If she was honest, Yomi hadn't really been listening. _I was too distracted by Tomo yelling in my ear. _

Yomi looked around at the three on her table, Team Idiot that comprised of Tomo, Osaka and Kagura, and realised that she_ really _wasn't thinking straight when she had decided to go with them. Osaka had fallen asleep, her head lolled over and Kagura had finished her side already and was trying to steal slices of the yakiniku when Tomo wasn't looking.

Tomo was fighting with Kagura now, having a mini chopstick war, and it was so tempting, the meat was there, she could easily reach out and take it -

"How's your rice, Yomi?" Tomo asked cheerfully, knowing full well that Yomi was _not _enjoying her meal.

"It's good." Yomi lied. Kagura stole a piece of yakiniku and ate it, glancing first at Tomo who was watching Yomi eat, and turned to watch Yomi as well while she chewed. Osaka burbled something about goose eggs and then continued being silent.

Being watched by two idiots was disconcerting at best. Yomi lifted up her chopsticks, and both of them followed it with their eyes. They were waiting for her to eat. She was tempted to randomly flick it in odd directions like she was hacking someone with a sword, just to see if their eyes would follow that as well, but restrained herself. Instead, she simply started to eat, picking up some grains of rice and putting them in her mouth.

Kagura, bored by this, went back to the yakiniku. Tomo kept watching, and in an instant, the grip on her chopsticks faltered, and the rice pinged out and fell down her top. Which would have been fine, if it had been her school uniform, but it was a _low cut top_, and Yomi pretended she hadn't noticed that the rice had probably got stuck in her bra. She was just about to excuse herself to go to the toilet, but Tomo reached across and yanked her sleeve so she sat back down.

"Hahahaha!" Tomo burst into laughter, "I saw that! The rice went down your top, it went down your top!"

"Shut up!" Yomi hissed, looking around in mortification, "You're so freakin' loud!"

"You were gonna try and get it out in the bathroom, weren't ya?" Tomo asked rhetorically, "Go on, just get it out now!"

"No!" Yomi looked around and noticed that a few people had turned around, "Shut up! Just let me go to the bathroom!"

"I'll get it out for you." Tomo said with a sly grin, positioning her chopsticks just above her chest, "Where is it - "

Yomi threw her chopsticks at her to try and distract her, and pushed herself away, "Tomo – stop being such an idiot, I'm going to the - "

"I'll get it out for you."

A creepy aura surrounded them, and Yomi turned her head slowly around to see Kimura-sensei hover behind her, mouth wide open and chopsticks pointed towards her chest. The fact that he popped out of nowhere just intensified the freakishness, and not knowing what else to do, Yomi screamed and ran away. Tomo and Kagura also excused themselves, backing away nervously as they followed Yomi's exit.

Osaka was still asleep when the bill came, and when she was unable to pay, the waitress scolded her to get her act together.

"I must get my act together." Osaka repeated as a mantra as she washed up the restaurant's dishes, "I must get my act together."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to those that have reviewed! It's good to know someone's reading. ;)


	6. Swap

Swap

Sakaki and Chiyo-chan were walking home together. It was routine now, and when Sakaki had turned down the offer to go out for barbecue with the others, Chiyo-chan told them she couldn't go either. It was her turn to cook dinner, after all. Chiyo-chan enjoyed their walks together, especially the ones when Sakaki wouldn't suddenly disapper. It made her feel grown up and protected to walk with someone as cool and as tall as Sakaki. Sakaki never really showed what she was feeling, but Chiyo-chan could tell that she would look more mellow when they walked together with Tadakichi-san and wondered if she should invite her in to her house so she could walk with them later.

"Ah! Sakaki-san, look at that poster!"

Chiyo-chan eagerly pointed to the blue flyer that was taped to the wall beside her. Sakaki stopped and looked where she was pointing. It was an advertisement for an upcoming film with a cat as the main star, called _Maemi's Adventures_.

"Doesn't it look good?" Chiyo-chan said happily. Sakaki nodded with a determined "Mm." She stared at the poster for a long time, wondering if anyone would mind if she ripped the poster off to take home. _It's so cute..._

"Did you want to see it together?" Chiyo-chan asked. Sakaki looked at her in surprise.

"You... would want to see it with me?" Sakaki said slowly, "I cry sometimes."

"That's fine! I cry all the time when I watch sad films!" Chiyo-chan said optimistically, "We can cry together!"

Sakaki nodded again and replied that she would like that very much. They both looked at the poster in silence, until Chiyo-chan noticed an orange one taped along the wall a bit further. Sakaki didn't notice Chiyo-chan as she walked along a bit more to read the other poster.

"Oh...I can't watch this one." Chiyo-chan said sadly, as she noticed the age rating in the bottom corner, "It's one of those cool films."

"Hm?" Sakaki turned around, and slowly walked over to look above Chiyo-chan's head, "Oh... it's an action film. I don't like those very much."

"I bet Tomo would like it." Chiyo-chan said, then added wistfully, "I wish I could watch it with everyone."

Sakaki thought about this for a moment and crouched down so she was eye level with the small girl. Chiyo-chan looked at her with a lack of understanding.

"Bump into me." Sakaki said seriously.

"What?"

"I saw it on this film. These two people ran into each other and they swapped bodies. Then you can be tall and go watch these cool films."

"But what would you get Sakaki-san?"

"That doesn't matter."

Sakaki imagined herself talking to Chiyo-chan's father everyday during dinner, putting her hair into bunches, being cute enough to get away with wearing cute things, walking Tadakichi-san...

"Walk far away and run into me. I... can't really run like this."

Sakaki watched patiently as she stayed in her crouched position, watching Chiyo-chan walk backwards up the deserted street.

"Is this far enough, Sakaki-san?"

"Keep going."

Chiyo-chan stopped halfway up the street.

"Is this far enough, Sakaki-san?"

"Keep going."

Chiyo-chan stopped at the end of the street.

"Is this far enough, Sakaki-san?" She shouted. Sakaki could only hear her faintly, and made shooing motions with her hand to keep going.

Chiyo-chan looked both ways before crossing the road, and Sakaki didn't hear anything this time. She stuck her thumb up, showing that she was good to go, and Chiyo-chan looked nervously as she crossed the road, then broke out into a run. It was a slow run. Sakaki didn't move at all as Chiyo-chan gradually got closer and closer, gasping for breath as she staggered towards her. Once she was close, Sakaki noticed that she was struggling to keep going, and collapsed in front of her, knocking their foreheads together.

Sakaki reached out to grab her before she fell and Chiyo-chan looked up, with an exhausted look on her face.

"Did... did it work?" She gasped.

"No." Sakaki said.

"Oh."

"There's always next time."

"Huh?"

Chiyo-chan hoped she was joking.


	7. Food Groups

Food Groups

Whenever the class had English first period, they knew from experience that they would find Yukari-sensei asleep. Today was no exception. With her hands folded in a substitute for a pillow, her head cushioned in the crease of her elbow so she couldn't see anyone, the class were free to do as they wished.

Despite this, most worked or just blankly stared into space.

The exceptions were Tomo, who was folding a sheet of paper to make a paper aeroplane, her tongue sticking out in concentration, Osaka, who was asleep and Kaorin, who wasn't staring into space but gazing at the back of Sakaki's head.

A direct hit on Yomi's head with a papery whoosh, Yomi finally honoured Tomo with her attention (because _really _that was all Tomo wanted to achieve) to pick up the plane and, despite Tomo's protests, scrunch it up in a ravaging frenzy.

"Hey – Yomi!"

"Do some work." Yomi hissed quietly. Yukari snored.

"It's not like Yukari-sensei is watching." Tomo said, "She never teaches us properly anyway - "

Yukari suddenly sprung up from the comment, unfortunately mistaking Kaorin to have said it, and commanded her to get out and stand in the corridor. Kaorin complied, dejected to no longer be able to stare at Sakaki's hair – or at least the back of it – and was even more dejected when Kimura suddenly sprung outside the door to greet her.

"Yukari-sensei..." Tomo said slowly, "Why do you always sleep in our first lesson?"

Yukari looked around the class, who were now paying attention to her instead of waiting for the lesson to end. Yukari pondered her answer for a few moments, and then grinned.

"Has Nyamo taught you about food?" Yukari answered.

The whole class visibly slumped with a depressed blue aura. _Why is Yukari-sensei always so fixated on food? _

Chiyo-chan outstretched her arm eagerly, waving it in the air that looked adorable instead of looking irritatingly stuck up if anyone else had done it.

"Chiyo-chan." Yukari said, "Stand up so we can see you and tell us all about it."

She stood up, (although there really wasn't much difference), and held up her hand in the air. A backdrop of a pie chart came out of nowhere, and she pointed to each of the five segments with a pointer stick that equally came out of nowhere.

"There are the five main food groups," Chiyo-chan recited, "They are split up into fruit and vegetables - " She tapped the green triangle which had an arrangement of different fruit and vegetables.

" - meat, fish and eggs - " A tap of the red triangle.

" - dairy products - " A tap of the blue triangle.

" bread, cereal and potatoes - " A tap of the orange triangle.

"And sweets." She finished, pointing her pointer stick to the smallest pink triangle. Yomi nodded her head knowingly as Chiyo-chan told the class that they should keep everything in moderation when they eat, and to not each too much from the pink triangle.

"No, no, no." Yukari sighed, pulling the pie chart back to wherever it came from, Chiyo-chan's pointer stick vanishing in a pop. Chiyo-chan slunk back in her seat, trying not to cry because she got it wrong.

"Who cares about that stuff? That's not important." Yukari said with a wave of her hand, "No. We need to talk about _food. _For example - " she picked up a stick of white chalk and turned around to the blackboard, "Now. This is me."

She drew a picture of a rectangle, with some more rectangles on top. Realising this didn't make sense, she rubbed it out, and drew out a candy wrapper. Tomo clicked and said that it was a chocolate bar.

"Yes!" Yukari pointed at Tomo to say she had got it right, and then wrote 'chocolate' beside it, "I am a chocolate bar. Now – this is Nyamo..."

This time she drew a bowl with some small round ovals inside. Tomo clicked again and said that it was a bowl of rice.

"You're on a roll today, Tomo!" Yukari said, writing 'rice' next to the picture, before entitling both of them 'Yukari' and 'Minamo', "Now. Can anyone tell me, _why _I am a chocolate bar and why Nyamo is a bowl of rice?"

She looked expectantly at Tomo, and not used to being under so much pressure to get an answer right, she thought and thought of what it could be. Kagura raised her hand.

"Is it because a chocolate bar is more exciting than a bowl of rice?" She asked. Yukari gave a smug grin.

"You would _think _that, wouldn't you?" Yukari said, "That is one reason, but there is another one which is more applicable for this lesson."

_This is a lesson? _Yomi thought to herself. The class were silent and Yukari cackled.

"Looks like Nyamo hasn't been teaching you about food that much." Yukari said, "Now. Nyamo is a stupid Phys. Ed teacher, yes?"

"Well, I wouldn't say she was stupid..." Kagura said, but Yukari ignored her.

"So. She runs around all day, and needs a lot of energy. That's why she's a bowl of rice. If you eat a bowl of rice, you have sustainable amounts of energy to last you throughout the day."

"Oh!" Kagura clicked, "Like when you do a marathon?"

"Yes!" Yukari pointed at her in her correctness, "Now, I am a chocolate bar. If you eat a chocolate bar, it is tasty yes, but it gives you a mega load of super powerful energy!" She punched her fist into her hand.

"When you eat a chocolate bar, you get energy in _short motivational bursts! _So, therefore, I will teach you in short motivational bursts of pure teaching energy and sleep for the rest."

She finished abruptly, still standing in her declaration. There was silence, and if the class were listening, they could half hear Kaorin in the background screeching at Kimura-sensei to go back to his class.

Tomo stood up slowly, looking at her in comprehension.

"I think I'm a chocolate bar too."

Yukari glared at her.

"We are not the same." She said in a low serious voice, a slight hint of a threat hiding behind it.

Tomo sat down, unsure of whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. Yukari looked around the classroom edgily, and managing to trick them again (_god some kids would believe such spontaneous nonsense) _went back to sleep.


	8. Idiots are Competitive

Idiots are Competitive

It was homeroom after lunch. Yukari was late, which was turning into a usual occurrence now. It was such a usual occurrence, that the class were sitting casually at their desks, some standing and wandering around the class to talk with their friends. Tomo was sitting sideways on her chair, laughing when Yomi nearly toppled over from rocking backwards, and talking with Chiyo-chan, who was sitting adjacent to her.

Kagura suddenly slammed both hands down on Tomo's desk, dramatically pointing her finger at her when Tomo turned around in alarm, thinking for a moment that it was Yukari.

"I challenge you!" Kagura exclaimed, and Tomo looked at her with an excited expression, her eyes lighting up.

"Oh?" Tomo replied, standing up so she was level, resting both her hands on the desk, "You've come to challenge me, eh? Well, what if I'm busy?" She said, pretending that she had more important and interesting things that she could be doing instead. Which was a lie, and both of them knew it.

"Just think of it as revenge for all the times I've beaten you in Phys. Ed."

"OH. Well, what about all those times I've beaten you in tests?"

"Those were just lucky flukes. There are times where I've beaten you in tests, but you've never beaten me at a race."

"OH! A race it is then!" Tomo said heatedly, but Kagura grabbed her shoulder before she ran off to the track.

"Calm down, idiot." Kagura said, "I'm not challenging you to a race."

"Huh?" Tomo was confused now. Kagura pulled out two ball point pens, and clicked the top.

"I challenge you to see who can click the most!" She said, throwing a pen at her. Tomo aimed to catch it deftly in one hand so she would look cool, but missed and bent down to the floor to pick it up.

"I accept!" Tomo replied, after she had got back up. She grinned for a moment, until something had occurred to her, "Hey wait a sec. Don't you normally challenge Sakaki to these kind of things?"

Kagura looked away begrudgingly, "She said she didn't understand why you would want to click a pen more than once."

"That's 'cause she's an idiot." Tomo said, "Oy! Osaka, come here and judge us to see who can click the most!"

Osaka, who for some reason was staring intently at a piece of chalk, turned around at the mention of her unwanted nickname, and dreamily wandered over.

"Eh~ click?" She said in her usual dazed tone, "What do you mean? Clicking? Is that like clucking like a chicken, but clicking?"

"No. It's like clicking a pen type of clicking."

Osaka still didn't look like she got it. Tomo demonstrated by clicking her pen rapidly a few times. Osaka clicked, metaphorically of course, and nodded wildly to show she understood.

Kagura frowned, "So Osaka's our judge? Couldn't we have got someone more reliable?"

"Osaka is reliable enough!" Tomo argued. Oska nodded wildly to show that she was. Kagura didn't agree.

"What about Chiyo-chan?" Kagura asked. Tomo folded her arms.

"Chiyo-chan has to keep an eye on the clock. Don't you Chiyo-chan?"

Chiyo-chan hadn't been listening and was saying goodbye to a quickly escaping Yomi, who gave the excuse that she needed the toilet.

"Chiyo-chan....Chiyo-channnn...." Tomo said creepily. Chiyo-chan turned around to see the three idiots giving her scarily evil looks.

"Wh-what is it?" She stuttered, not liking the fact that she was smaller than them all. Tomo grinned.

"We need you to watch that clock." Tomo pointed to the clock hanging above the door, "We'll do it for one minute, yeah?" She looked over at Kagura who agreed with a nod.

"Alright!" Tomo pounded her fist on Chiyo-chan's desk, "Chiyo-chan! As soon as the third hand gets to the twelve, keep your eye on that clock and tell us when a minute is up!"

"Wh-what are you going to do?" Chiyo-chan asked. While Tomo explained the details, Osaka asked Kagura what the third hand was for.

"The third hand? It's for counting seconds."

"Well then, why isn't it called the _second _hand?" Osaka asked, "I mean, don't you find that confusing?"

"The second hand counts down minutes." Kagura explained, "The second hand means the number second, not the time second."

"The number second?"

"Like after first?"

Osaka frowned, "So... the minute hand is the... second? But it counts down minutes, not seconds!"

Kagura strugged to try and explain what she meant, but Chiyo-chan stopped her, as she started the countdown.

"Three! Two! - "

Both the competitors held their pens, thumbs hovering above the top. Tomo told Osaka to stop thinking about the time, (it wasn't her job after all) and to concentrate on who clicked the most.

"One! Go!" Chiyo-chan swooshed her arm down, like she was starting a race, and the clicking began. Kagura and Tomo stared intently at their pens as they clicked, Chiyo-chan stared intently at the clock as the seconds counted down, and Osaka blankly looked at the blur of clicking pens. Around fourty-five seconds later, the two were starting to slow down, Tomo loosing her first burst of energy that she had at the beginning, Kagura slowing down slightly in thumb ache. Yomi walked back into the homeroom, surprisingly _quick _for someone who had meant to be going to the toilet and ignored what the three idiots were doing, and asked Chiyo-chan what she was doing that weekend.

_click-click-click_

Chiyo-chan glanced up at the clock, then looking nervously back, before glancing at the clock, and looking back at Yomi. Yomi told her to ignore whatever the idiots had told her, and Chiyo-chan cheerfully told her about going to see a film with Sakaki-san, while looking at the clock.

"Ah, that sounds like fun." Yomi said kindly.

_click-click-click_

"Do you want to come with us?" Chiyo-chan asked, distracted from watching the clock to looking at Yomi. Yomi sighed and looked away.

"I can't. I've got that essay to redo still. Tomo kept pestering me for my copy and then she went and lost it."

_click-click-click_

"Oh. Well maybe another time." Chiyo-chan said. Yomi continued to complain about Tomo and her irritations, complained some more and sighed in a way that she didn't understand why she put up with her. Chiyo-chan offered her sympathy, standing on tiptoe so she could pat her on the back in an affectionate way.

"HEY!"

Kagura and Tomo thundered in front Chiyo-chan, standing up tall to try and intimidate the small girl. It worked, and Chiyo-chan huddled to the floor, looking utterly defenceless. A raging fire blazed in the two's eyes, as they stared at the small girl.

"It's past a minute." Kagura and Tomo said, creepily at the same time, "Why didn't you tell us to stop?"

"I – I'm sorry, I got distracted - " Chiyo-chan floundered.

"Why didn't you tell us to stop?" Kagura and Tomo repeated.

"I – I was talking to Yomi-san..."

"Why didn't you tell us to stop?"

"I – I - "

"Why didn't you tell us to stop?"

They both slowly leaned down, holding out red thumbs that had been clicking for _far too long. _

"W-who won...?" Chiyo-chan said anxiously, hoping that this wouldn't induce a new fight.

"Oh!" Tomo sprung up, suddenly in a good mood, "Osaka, Osaka, who won?"

Kagura pounced on Osaka's shoulders with her hands, "It was me, wasn't it?"

"Hey! Don't influence her!" Tomo retorted, before smiling gleefully at her, "It was me, wasn't it Osaka?"

Osaka thought like a philospher, giving an outward appearance of thinking something profound and unusual. The unusual was to be expected, and she shut her eyes, drifting deep into contemplation, while the two competitors looked at her hopefully.

"I would say..." Osaka said slowly, "That..."

"Yes?" Kagura and Tomo said, "Yes? That...?"

"It's a draw." Osaka said decisively. Kagura and Tomo groaned.

"A draw?" Tomo echoed, "That's _worse _that losing!"

"In that case, how about we say that you lost?" Kagura quickly jumped on, "Then we can both be happy!"

"Hey! There was no way _I _lost!"

"Rematch!"

"You're on!"

Chiyo-chan and Yomi watched as the two hopelessly battled it out again. Tomo had changed tactic and swapped to her left hand, but it didn't seem to be working as well, as she was slower than before. Kagura had chosen to work through the pain, despite the ache in her thumb. In order not to witness the scariness of the two again, Chiyo-chan kept her eyes on the clock this time, and called out when the minute was up.

"So? So?" The two asked. Osaka thought.

"Draw."

"Rematch!"

"You're on!"

Yomi looked at the two. "You're both idiots."


	9. Freezing Yomi

Freezing Yomi

It was raining. Tomo wanted to know why it _always_ rained on the weekend. If it was going to rain at all, it should rain when they were at school. It just didn't make any sense.

"It just does." Yomi said, lying on her front as she read her magazine. Tomo watched her, sitting upright on the floor with her legs crossed. She had gotten wet from the rain, and despite asking Yomi many times, she hadn't given her a blanket to dry herself off with. It wasn't like she was _expecting it to rain. _Yomi had just told her that she shouldn't have climbed in through her window again and gotten her essay wet.

It wasn't Tomo's fault. Yomi should expect her to come through that way, it's not like she knew her essay was there.

"Don't you always want to go outside when it's raining?" Tomo asked, turning to watch the rain as it splattered against the window.

"No." Yomi flicked a page, looking with interest at the dieting section. Tomo noticed, and craned her neck to see what she was reading.

"You know, I know a way to lose weight." Tomo said. Yomi didn't say anything, looking over at her to continue.

"You have to get _really really _cold." She said. Yomi turned back to the magazine.

"I'm being serious!" Tomo protested, "My cousin did it once in the winter. She went out camping, and came back and lost like a stone!"

"She probably didn't eat anything." Yomi replied. Tomo shook her head.

"She lived off noodles for a week. And they were the fattening kind." She paused, as a thought struck her, "Hey c'mon, let's go outside in the rain!"

"What are you saying?" Yomi said, "You don't want me to lose weight at all, you just want to go play around in the rain like a little kid."

"Fine. I'll go by myself." Tomo said. Yomi didn't pay her any attention as the other girl stood up, walking over to the window. She knew she wasn't actually going to go through with it. She just wanted her attention. As usual.

Reading the seventh top tip, _A smaller plate means a smaller portion! A smaller portion means a smaller waist!, _Yomi half listened as Tomo pushed up the window, and made noises that sounded like she was scrambling out. She didn't look up, until the window closed with a bang. This made her feel slightly guilty and looked up. Tomo had gone.

And she had taken her new coat.

Inwardly screaming on what an idiot Tomo was, Yomi rushed to the front door, wrenching it open. Tomo was in the distance, her hood – well _Yomi's –_ hood up, kicking the puddle as she walked. Not really thinking clearly, Yomi ran out, quickly shutting the door behind her.

It was her _new coat. _The one her mother had spent a _lot _of money on, and had told her not to get dirty. At all.

Tomo was wearing it.

"Tomo!" Yomi yelled. Tomo turned around, and with a grin, ran off. Yomi stopped walking, blinking as the rain attacked her clothes and skin. _She was running away. _

"Tomo this isn't a joke!" Yomi shouted, and ran after her. Yomi wasn't that good at running, but she was better than Tomo, and charged as fast as she could. Tomo kept running, probably laughing to herself on how much she was annoying her, and Yomi ran faster.

Yomi lived close to the station, and Tomo quickly ran past that, Yomi following some metres behind. She heard the rush of the train as it went past, but it felt like nothing compared to how fast she was running at that moment.

The rain was still pounding down, and Yomi only had a skimpy pair of shorts on and a rollerneck jumper that was sticking to her. Her hair was plastered to her face, and her glasses had trails of water from rain dripping down her fringe. She was _freezing. _She had a sudden violent shiver as she pounded down on the pavement, her cheeks flushed from the running.

They ran past the cinema, and Yomi thought for a second she saw Chiyo-chan and Sakaki walk out. She didn't stop, too preoccupied with Tomo, and ran past as Chiyo-chan struggled to hold an umbrella high enough for both of them to fit under. Sakaki was sobbing to herself, her shoulders shaking. It had been a sad film.

"Tomo!" Yomi shouted again, gradually catching up. Tomo had stopped, bent over, wheezing as the rain slid off her hood.

"You idiot!" She yelled, smacking her round the head when she had caught up. Tomo stumbled backwards, and Yomi looked on in horror as she tripped and fell.

Fell into a dirty puddle.

"Yo – you idiot!" Yomi raged. Tomo took one look up at her from her lying position on the ground and laughed. She was seemingly unperturbed by the fact that she was sitting in a cold, wet puddle, and the rain was still falling down and soaking them both. Yomi shivered again.

"You're cold though right?" Tomo pointed out with a sly grin, "And exercised as well! Didn't you feel those calories _burn_?"

Yomi struggled to contain herself, "You didn't do this for my benefit at all! Even if I have lost weight - "

This actually sounded quite good to Yomi. Even in her annoyance with Tomo, if she lost weight at least it would all be worth it. Thinking to herself that she would need to go on the scales as soon as she got back, _hmm this seems familiar... _she nearly missed the frown that had just appeared on Tomo's face.

"Actually... now I think about it... it might have been _sleeping while you're cold._" Tomo laughed it off, "Ah well never mind."

Yomi stepped on her stomach. As hard as she could.


	10. Cats

Cats

Kagura was on her morning jog to school. Occasionally, her and Sakaki would cross paths, they lived close together after all, and they would walk together before they stopped off at Chiyo-chan's house. She glanced up as she recognised the long flow of hair a few metres away, and called out Sakaki's name.

Sakaki turned around, and Kagura slowed down to a walk. Sakaki wasn't really much for company; she didn't say much, but for some reason, she had a tendency to be targeted by cats. They would lurk behind bins, perch on gates, hide in the bushes, and as they walked past them they would spring out with an innocent look.

Kagura thought that Sakaki would know better to trust in them. But every time, she still swayed over, holding out her hand to stroke the cat. It was an invitation, really. That's probably what the cats thought too, as they munched on her hand.

So. With this, Kagura thought it best to scare the cats away whenever they came near. Today, as she saw a cat come near, she mimed holding a bazooka over her shoulder.

"Ka-pou!" She shouted, along with making other noises that sounded like gunfire. The cat immediately ran off.

Kagura gave a smug grin in her success, not noticing Sakaki's distraught face. A few other cats popped up, and now to Kagura it felt like she was in some shoot 'em up video game. Degrading her air-weapon from a bazooka to a revolver, clasping both hands together and sticking out her index and middle fingers, she aimed at all the different cats, shooting them with loud, cat-scaring, blowing up noises.

The cats shrieked, meowed, hissed, and fled. Kagura kept going, thoroughly enjoying herself, until all the cats had gone.

"Haha," She laughed, turning to Sakaki in triumph, "It would be funny if they had collapsed or something, wouldn't it?"

She knew they wouldn't because it wasn't a real gun, but Sakaki obviously didn't get it. She was staring at her in utter disbelief mixed with an odd look of pain.

"No..." She said, "No... it wouldn't be good at all..."


End file.
